The Sahara Cup was a bilateral ODI cricket series between Pakistan and India, which was held annually in Canada.

[5] 1998 was also the year that cricket was featured in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, leading to a situation where India had to field two separate teams in order to take part in the two competitions.

The series had gained good popularity in the cricketing arena, just like the Sharjah cup - where two arch-rivals met at a neutral venue.

[8][9] Prior to the cancellation, an unsuccessful attempt was made to create a series with the West Indies as the third team, which would have allowed a three way competition where India and Pakistan would not directly compete with each other.

[10] The diplomatic relations between the two countries considerably worsened during the Kargil war in 1999, and further, India suspended all cricketing ties with Pakistan from 2000 until 2004.